


Banishment and New Beginnings

by octopus_fool



Series: Yuletide Cheer [17]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Baking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Homesickness, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 09:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16951209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octopus_fool/pseuds/octopus_fool
Summary: Arwen wonders about the past of her grandmother's guest.Past Galadriel/Lúthien and slight Kíli/Tauriel.





	Banishment and New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 11 of [Arda Advent](http://ardaprompts.tumblr.com/post/180626386876/join-me-in-creating-wintery-fanworks-about), the prompt was "gingerbread" (even though I ended up going with a slightly different version).

The light filtered through the branches of the mellyrn trees, soft and golden as Arwen had never seen it anywhere else on a winter afternoon. The music ringing from the talan below was melancholy but beautiful, but Arwen did not have much sense for it, nor for her grandmother’s stories of the time she had decorated Thranduil’s crown with dwarven ornaments when he got drunk at one of their countless meetings.

“I’m boring you, am I not?” Galadriel asked suddenly.

Arwen kept her mind carefully blank in order not to mentally curse. It did not do to let her mind wander in the presence of her grandmother. 

“I am sorry, Daernaneth. I am interested in what you have to say, I’m just a little preoccupied with my plans to bake some spiced cake later.”

“Did you forget the recipe or are you thinking about how you will spend even more time with my young guest?”

This time, Arwen didn’t stop herself from cursing in her head in time. Galadriel raised her eyebrow.

“You know better than to think about these things in my presence if you don’t want me to know,” Galadriel said, a slightly mischievous smile on her face that made her seem younger than Arwen.

“There’s nothing to know about,” Arwen said. “We just like spending time together.”

“Of course. And you certainly don’t think about sneaking to the edge of the forest with her, just lying on the grass together and wondering about the patterns your mingled hair creates.” Galadriel laughed at the look her granddaughter gave her. “Nothing I haven’t done myself.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have thought Daeradad was someone who tended towards sneaking.”

“Who said anything about Celeborn? More than one bird flies in the sky, especially in a place like Doriath.”

“Who was it?” Arwen asked, overcome by curiosity. 

Galadriel laughed. “I wasn’t one to aim low, especially not back then. I’m not sure her mother approved, but her birds sang their blessings as we kissed on the long grass at the forest’s edge.”

Arwen’s eyes widened as realisation dawned. “Really? But what about...”

“It was before our later husbands came along or became important to us. It is such a long time ago now...” Galadriel trailed off, looking wistful. “But we can talk about this more some other time, if you like. We were talking about you and Tauriel before you managed to change the topic. So you are baking Rivendell’s special spiced cake with her?”

“Yes, we were talking about winter traditions and when I told Tauriel about the spiced cake, we both realised it would be fun to bake it together. I think she misses her home.”

Galadriel nodded and they sat in silence for a few moments.

“You want to know whether she was exiled from Mirkwood for something terrible, but you don’t want to pry,” Galadriel said finally. “Personally, I don’t think caring too much is something bad, but of course, there are some who think things like obedience and loyalty are more important. Does that help you?”

“I think so,” Arwen replied, a weight lifting from her mind.

 

“Thank you for inviting me to bake with you,” Tauriel said. “I miss all the little traditions of my home, so taking part in yours means a lot to me.”

“Oh, I’m happy to have your company,” Arwen replied, adding the last ingredients and handing the batter over to Tauriel so that she could stir it. “I also miss my home at this time of year. Going home every year would just be too much of a hassle and the little traditions do help. Just the smell of the spiced cake makes me think of home.”

“I get that feeling whenever I smell the scent of pines,” Tauriel said wistfully. “I have to say I’m glad there aren’t many pines here in Lothlorién, I couldn’t stand those memories constantly.”

“I was also most homesick shortly after coming here. I’m sure it won’t take much longer for you to get used to it.”

“It would be easier if I knew I could return one day,” Tauriel said quietly. 

“Perhaps King Thranduil will lift the banishment one day?”

Tauriel shook her head. “I don’t think so. He doesn’t take disobedience and betrayal lightly.”

“What happened?” Arwen asked. “That is, if you don’t mind my asking.”

“You’re one of the few people I don’t mind talking to about this,” Tauriel said and Arwen felt that warm feeling inside her. “I know you probably grew up in a more open-minded environment, but I grew up with stories of the horrible deeds of dwarves and how wild and uncouth they are. When Thorin Oakenshield’s company was imprisoned in Mirkwood, they surprised me, especially one of them. He told me a little bit about their traditions. Not much, but enough for me to realise how inaccurate and incomplete those old stories are.”

“And King Thranduil wasn’t happy about that, I assume?”

“He wouldn’t have been, but he didn’t know, not yet. The dwarves managed to escape and Thranduil’s guard was to recapture them. But during their escape, they were attacked by orcs.” Tauriel had stopped stirring the batter. “They were trapped between the orcs and the gate. I pulled the lever and opened the gate to let the dwarves escape. The dwarf I had talked to was injured and I followed the dwarves to see if I could help them, against the king’s expressed orders.”

“And that was enough for him to send you into exile? That’s a bit harsh.”

“There’s more. I managed to save this dwarf from his injuries and another orc attack. I think that made me feel responsible for him, in a way. When it came to battle, the dwarves were in a tight place, surrounded by orcs. I wanted to go to their aid, but King Thranduil ordered me to leave them to their fate. I went against his orders. He stepped in my way. I... I would have turned my blade against him, if his son had not stepped between us.”

“Oh.”

“That is what I was exiled for. I deserve exile, but I still find it hard to bear.”

There were a few moments of silence.

“Did you love him, this dwarf you risked everything for?” Arwen asked quietly and immediately felt guilty for wanting to know.

Tauriel laughed, a sad, desperate sound. “I wish I knew. I might have, but all of this happened in only a few days. I never had time to even think about was happening and it all feels like a blur now. He certainly had feelings for me.”

“What happened to him?”

“He fell in the battle, here was nothing I could do.” Tauriel swallowed a few times, but lost her struggle against the tears. 

Arwen pulled Tauriel into a hug. 

Several minutes passed before Tauriel pulled away and wiped the tears off her face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t start dripping into the batter, after all, we’ve already added the pinch of salt.”

“Who knows, maybe salted spiced cake would be the most amazing tasting cake in all of middle-earth.”

Tauriel laughed. “I very much doubt it.”

“Well, then we should probably start pouring it into the cake tin as it is,” Arwen suggested.

Tauriel held the bowl as Arwen scraped out the batter. Their hands brushed as the bowl was set onto the table again.

“Even though the circumstances aren’t the happiest, I’m very glad that you are here and I can spend time with you,” Arwen said.

A slight blush crept over Tauriel’s face. “I am glad I get to spend time with you too.”

The warm feeling crept through Arwen’s chest again. Even though the going would be slow, she had the impression things were moving into a direction she very much liked.

**Author's Note:**

> There are still Arda Advent prompts for which I don't have ideas yet, so if there are any slash or femslash pairings (no incest though, sorry!) or Gen combinations you'd like to see, let me know (either in a comment or a tumblr ask, I'm ridiculoussquid) and I'll try to come up with something! If you've looked at my stories, you'll know that I mostly write for the Hobbit fandom, but I'm trying to do more LotR and Silmarillion stories too, so I'll also take suggestions for those (just no guarantees).


End file.
